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Bebop Spoken There

Buddy Guy: "My mother said, 'You got flowers for me, give 'em to me now, because I'm not going to smell them when you put 'em on the casket'." -(DownBeat September 2018).

Marty Ashby: "I asked him what his gig was and he said 'I put the scores on the music stands'. I said, 'That's a gig?' And I realised there were four floors of guys like him, who supported some of the finest musicians in the world. But I was a jazz musician, and I was used to playing with some of the finest musicians in the world in front of the New York Public Library for tips. That's when I realised that jazz didn't have the same support system as classical music.- (DownBeat September 2018).

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

I've always had an affinity with jazz violin,
perhaps it was because my first efforts at making music were on a cut price
Strad or, more likely, it was when I first heard Stephane Grappelli (or
Grappelly as he called himself then). To this day I love the gypsy jazz sound
as personified by local exponent Emma Fisk. However, I also love more modern
sounds and, somehow, Jean-Luc Ponty never quite cut it for me.

Enter Tomoko Omura, Berklee graduate, the first
violinist to receive the prestigious Roy Haynes Award and, now, with two
previous albums to her name, this latest release.

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

I'd become so used to thinking of Tommy Smith and the SNJO as being joined at the hip, and I use the word advisedly, that I'd almost forgotten what a formidable player he was in a small group setting. This tribute to John Coltrane puts the record straight.

He is to Scottish Jazz what Robbie Burns was to Scottish Poetry. With Smith, the best laid schemes of mice and jazzmen don't gang aft agley. In fact, on this disc, they don't gang agley at all. Over the 50 years since 'Trane ascended he's had many disciples but few, if any, have absorbed the complete canon as well as Scotland's own Trane. From the barnstorming Prestige/Blue Note period to the spiritual searching of the Atlantic/Impulse years Smith has it nailed. Not in a cloning manner but in a very personal way.

Although far less
well-known than her multi-instrumentalist husband Gilad, Tali Atzmon deserves better
recognition for the quality of her writing and singing on this debut album of
the group that includes both of them, along with Jenny Bliss Bennett on the
baroque instrument the viola da gamba, and Yaron Stavi on double bass. Not
included in the live line-up but heard occasionally on the album are pianist
Frank Harrison and percussionist Enzo Zirilli.

A quick reminder that tickets are still
available for our summer concert on Friday 9 June at
Gateshead's Caedmon Hall with our guests, Martin Litton (piano) and Nick
Ward (drums), also featuring the New Century's own Caroline on
vocals.

Martin is an internationally renowned
pianist, arranger and bandleader, who plays all the classic jazz styles with
immaculate precision, and who has recorded with many of the jazz greats
including Humphrey Lyttleton and Kenny Ball. Nick of course is a regular
guest with the New Century, probably the country's foremost drummer in the
vintage jazz style.

Organ Trios aren't meant to be listened to in semi-suburban three up two downs. They should be heard live in downtown juke joints where the cabaret is a Saturday night knifing after somebody done somebody wrong whilst fuelled with Jack Daniels or Jim Beam.

To make up for the lack of the above essentials I opened up a can of Hobgoblin ale (4.5%), made sure the knife drawer in the kitchen was locked, turned up the volume and played the album.

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Newcastle’s Jesmond Library reopened in November 2013 as a community-run
asset in the wake of philistine political vandalism. It isn’t the same, one
wouldn’t expect it to be. Volunteers trying to provide a professional service
on a shoestring can’t be easy. More power to their elbow that they plough on
and they’re currently in the middle of this year’s Jesmond Community Festival.
Tonight members of Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra entertained local
residents.

CountyDurham
correspondent Tony Eales filed a brief report on the Strictly Smokin’ Big
Band’s gig at Ushaw. A warm early summer Friday evening at Ushaw encouraged fans
to turn out in numbers. The magnificent Exhibition Hall was all but sold out.
Who said jazz is dead? Michael Lamb’s SSBB featured vocalist Jennifer Davies,
guitarist Pawel Jedrzejewski (and other instrumentalists from the sections) and
at the heart of the performance the British premiere of trumpeter Gerard
Presencer’s suite written for the acclaimed Danish Radio Big Band.

Ushaw’s June
concert (Friday 30, 7:30pm), features the superb Matt Anderson Quartet. As
Michael Lamb’s big band drew such a large crowd it could be advisable to book
in advance www.ushaw.org

St Nicholas
Cathedral presents performances week in week out, from the liturgical to the
devil’s music…jazz! This lunchtime recital – a gig if you will – located in the
south transept featured an experienced tutor and gigging musician from down the
road in Leeds. Advertised as part of the
cathedral’s ‘International Recital Series’, Paul Wilkinson’s set of forty five
minutes included two bona fide jazz tunes and three improvisations.

On entering a
sweltering Millstone Michael Lamb indicated that the pub’s upstairs room
offered a cool refuge from the heat of the day, hastily adding: Only joking! Sure enough the first floor
room resembled a boiler house. MD Lamb’s
troops arrived in ones and twos for the Strictly Smokin’ Big Band’s monthly
public rehearsal night. Several members of the band arrived in shorts. Where
did they think they were? The Costa del Plonk?

Strike Up the Band, Sister Sadie, Basically Blues – a typically eclectic selection from the SSBB. A
noticeably absent Alice Grace (presently, the woman has more important things
to attend to!) gave some present a first opportunity to hear Jennifer Davies. Orange Colored Sky (more like cloudless blue!)
and Too Darn Hot (darn right!)
revealed Ms Davies to be a fine singer (a more than capable dep for AG), reading
the charts as in standard rehearsal mode.

Saturday, May 27, 2017

... or I should say they performed in
the lane (it was billed as ‘Live in the Lane’), opposite Vicolo’s coffee shop,
which is next to the side entrance of the Tyneside Cinema. Not the easiest of
venues, as the people drinking outside are seated in a line against the walls,
not necessarily paying much attention to the music, chatting, laughing, so
musicians have to make the best of it, which these two did. After quite a time
sorting out sound problems, Lindsay struck up with a song from the great Ella, Take It Easy (?) in a pleasantly
relaxed, easy, low-voiced style, followed by Dindi and the first very welcome guitar solo of the set.

"Not only the grooviest band, but also the tallest" quipped Ruth as she introduced her three henchmen. She asked them to stand up and it was as if the Manhattan Skyline had taken human form with Ruth as the Statue of Liberty.

A first gig for her new band but who could tell? I couldn't - they gelled from the off. No Moon at All followed by On a Clear Day told us she meant business. Don't think I've heard her in better voice. She had no choice, with these three guys behind her it was a case of put up or shut up.

Margaret Barnes, one of the northeast's most enthusiastic supporters of jazz, sadly passed away on Thursday, May 25, after a long battle with cancer. Despite her illness, until fairly recently, Margaret continued to attend jazz concerts at various venues throughout the region. Outwardly oblivious to her failing health, she was always concerned as much about others as she was about herself.

Big bands were her forte with Stan Kenton being a particular idol. We were both fans of Daryl Sherman; pictured here with Margaret at one of Mike Durham's Whitley Bay Classic Jazz Party's which Margaret attended every year.

Friday, May 26, 2017

The Vieux Carré
Jazzmen’s regular Thursday lunchtime session in Holystone sees the band set up
at one end of the bar, the band’s regular supporters occupying front rows
seats, and the seen-and-heard-it-all-before veterans sitting in the cheap seats
with a pint of Deuchar’s. The Holystone pub’s lunchtime trade devours generous-sized
portions of food from its busy kitchen…the jazz comes as a free-of-charge side
platter.

On a blue sky
day a local business elected to hold a staff meeting in the Holystone’s beer
garden… someone’s got to do it!

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Another gem from Michael Janisch's Whirlwind Recordings. And a 9 carat gem it is too!

Mal Waldron's classic Soul Eyes kicks things off. Armacost is my kind of tenor player playing with a fluency that matches any of his historically better known predecessors. Chorus after chorus he soars, flying high, each one better than the one before then it's over, 'cept it isn't. Berkman takes control and the tension doesn't flag, Yasukagawa doesn't drop the baton either.

A
good-sized St Ives crowd gathered at the self-styled ‘last jazz club before New
York’ on Tuesday night. As Talinka took the stage, many were wondering how the
band would compare with Gilad Atzmon’s
other musical ventures. In fact, though, the brains behind this project belong
to his wife, the singer Tali Atzmon.

Looking
at the line-up of bass clarinet, viola da gamba, double bass and vocals, one
might predict a coalition of chaos. But one would be wrong. Very wrong. Talinka
have a strange yet distinctive musical style whose main feature is an intense
other-worldly melancholy, part middle-eastern, part Brazilian, part Berlin
cabaret, part Tom Waits.

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

I must confess, I didn’t know Elijah Rock from Adam Ant (biblical/music joke) and it maybe wasn’t intended for me anyway as our vocal prophet made reference to me alongside the Birmingham/London based jazz blog, the Jazz Breakfast. However, Peter Bacon was happy to pass the baton on to me and, in retrospect it may not have been the best decision he ever made – unless he’s a Cole Porter man.

Think Billy Eckstine, Johnny Hartman, Cleveland Watkiss and the other rich-toned baritones that have enriched the jazz scene over the years. Elijah is on the fringe of that select group and, on the evidence of this album he’ll soon be an integral part of it.

MAY's live stream at Ronnie Scott's will be the tour de
force that is the Buddy Rich Big Band on Thursday 25th
May at 10.15pm (GMT). Featuring legendary
drummer Dave Weckl, Buddy's daughter Cathy Rich and drummer Gregg Potter plus
some of the original members of the Buddy Rich Big Band. This run of 12 shows
is set to be an historic week at the club, so for those who couldn't get tickets,
here is your chance to watch the show - live!

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Village Vanguard.
Tonite, all the way from Newcastle
upon Tyne, England,
we have a wonderful trio to play for you. Please give a Big Apple welcome to
Zoë Gilby, Paul Edis and Andy Champion!

A
sweltering early summer evening down in the village, the habitués of the West
End Terrace monthly jazz session were hearing Zoë Gilby for the first time.

It’s a long way
from Zoë Gilby’s Tyneside base to the Fox Inn way out west. It was only a
matter of time before the acclaimed vocalist would make her debut at this ace
jazz club. No $10.00 minimum at the bar here! Two sets, then downtown to take
the late nite subway home. It would be worth the journey.

Common Spaces opens with
the angular Groovy. A rhythmic pulse surges
through Antonio Fusco’s composition with Bruno Heinen’s robust piano playing
and the composer’s commanding drumming suggesting that this New Simplicity Trio
album is going to be a swinging, hard driving affair. Making assumptions about
what will follow should be resisted for fear of being proved wrong! A further
nine tracks - three from Fusco, four from Heinen, one from bassist Henrik
Jensen and one standard - go on to disprove any such notion.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Mickey Roker died yesterday (May 22). A drum legend, often cited by Dizzy Gillespie as his all-time favourite, recorded and toured with many of the hardbop stars of the 1950s onwards including Duke Pearson, Herbie Hancock, Lee Morgan and many others including Sonny Rollins. As I type I'm listening to Sonny Rollins on Impulse! where Roker spurs the tenorist on on the up tempo numbers and provides a cushion on the ballads.

This gig took me back to the good old
days of live jazz when even national bands would play in social clubs

It reminded me of a night in the 1980’s
when I’d gone to Seaton Terrace Club in Seaton Delaval to hear Humphrey Lyttleton’s
band with South Shields born Kathy Stobart on reeds. (The crap support act was
a guy who was a star from New Faces who did impressions of aircraft taking off
by blowing into the mic.) It was at this gig that Humph and Kathy did the two
clarinet thing, which I thought was a one off and I’ve never seen it done again.

I must say that it’s lovely to be wearing my reviewer’s
reins, after recovering from an awful

stomach bug which left me exhausted for about 2 weeks. And
this gig was just the job to cheer

me up. The singer and guitarist usually work together as a
duo, and they’d just had an hour or so with Paul before the gig. Ms Moreno said she had a frog in
her throat, (didn’t show), but none of this hindered the band from giving us a thoroughly enjoyable
evening, which was also part of the Late Show events.

Monday, May 22, 2017

The room was swarming with family, friends and admirers, but most of
all, singers on Sunday night in the acoustically perfect Hall 1 at
London’s Kings Place. Yes, there were more singers than you could shake a
tuning fork at. And it seemed as if they all personally knew choirmaster
extraordinaire Pete Churchill and his wife Nikki Iles, or had at the very least
participated in a vocal workshop at some time with the dynamic, charismatic
Churchill. It was, in short, a musical love-fest.

The pianist, composer and arranger has been immersed for seven
years in rendering the Gil Evans/Miles Davis Miles Ahead album into
vocalese, and performing it with the 23-strong London Vocal Project. In order
to achieve this Churchill has crossed the Atlantic a number of times to
collaborate with the legend that is Jon Hendricks, helping to add the great
man’s lyrics to the themes and solos on that epoch-busting album. Way back in
1957, Hendricks, Dave Lambert and Annie Ross prepared the ground with their Sing
a Song of Basie album, an early exercise in multi-tracking, on which all
Basie’s instrumental parts were sung rather than played.

VEIN’s new album
traverses the history of the jazz piano trio from Bill Evans to the present
with a nonchalance that is the preserve of the supremely gifted. An
all-original album of eight tracks with
writing credits shared between the musicians (primarily the Arbenz
brothers) The Chamber Music Effect pays homage to the jazz piano trio format and
seeks to explore and extend possibilities as jazz moves into its second
century.

You can hang
your pork pie hat on some bands - Alter Ego is one of them. An accomplished
sextet with a pad of original compositions and smart arrangements of classic
material, Alter Ego play gigs for the fun of it with a commendable no nonsense
approach. Alto saxophonist Keith Robinson pulls together a set list confident that
his band mates will be up to the job with some of them contributing one or two
charts which proudly take their place alongside tried and tested numbers. This
Blaydon Jazz Club date found the sextet in fine form.

Sunday, May 21, 2017

Friday night at the Caff with a
co-promotion by Jazz North East & the Jazz Cafe - what to expect? Playing
all original material by master percussionist Johnny Hunter was something to
look forward to, particularly following the reviews from last year’s Manchester
Jazz Festival. Although some regular faces were absent the audience
numbers were swelled by many new ones – great to see!

All tunes felt quite accessible
through their interesting compositions and delivery by the band. What a tight
band (when needed), interspersed with much free playing, yet always
collectively in sync. Most tunes had extended solos from 2 or 3 of the band
each time, giving the opportunity to freely develop some space around each
tune. I was surprised but pleased to see an extended drum solo in the second
piece which provided a perfectly formed segue into the third. There were many
fine solos yet no immediate applause for them. Thankfully the applause at
the end of each set showed the true measure of the audience's appreciation,
bringing smiles of delight to the band.

The spirit of
the Jazz Messengers will descent on the Black Bull, Blaydon tomorrow night (May
21). Blaydon Jazz Club will welcome the return of bop heroes Alter Ego on
Sunday evening and it could well be a full house. The best advice is to arrive
early to secure a seat. The first set starts at eight o’clock, seats will be
snapped up by about seven thirty, so, make the effort to get along in good
time. It is a pay on the door gig – a mere fiver – and the Black Bull pub on
Bridge Street offers a well-kept pint for the discerning imbiber. On street
parking is available adjacent to and opposite the pub, and the nearby Blaydon
bus station provides reliable quick links to Newcastle,
Gateshead, and west to the Tyne valley. You say your kind of jazz is swing or
Dixieland, perhaps the GASbook. Be a devil, let your Alter Ego take you to bop
paradise…Sunday 21 May, Black Bull, Blaydon, eight o’clock sharp. Russell.

If
last year’s Grainger Market Late Shows is anything to go by this year’s event
promises to be breaking at its Victorian seams. Every alley was crowded with
Late Show attendees shopping, eating pizzas and drinking coffee. Some listened
to musicians performing on temporary stages dotted around the Grade I Listed
building. This year’s line-up includes Brent and the Brads on Stage 1 playing
two sets: 5:30-6:00 and again at 7:00-7:30. Jazz Riot (don’t worry they're not
dangerous!) hold court at 7:45 for half an hour, and over on Stage 2 from
6:30-8:00 there is Lindy Jazz Swing Music.

Syson is quite an amazing young trumpet player. A product of the Birmingham Conservatoroire that is currently rolling them out by the dozen, Syson must surely be listed in the 'Most Likely to Succeed' category.

Friday, May 19, 2017

The welcome return of Dean Stockdale to the Lit &
Phil, on this occasion working with the west of the Pennines bass and drums
pairing of Gavin Barras and Adam Dawson, presented a first opportunity for
Newcastle gig-goers to purchase the pianist's new CD. What's more, this Friday
lunchtime concert was recorded for, at the very least, posterity, if not future
release.

Adam
Dawson's last minute arrival via the always busy M6 and the recording engineer
requiring a few minutes to mic-up the kit resulted in the usual one
o'clock start being delayed slightly. The published programme of eight numbers
actually ended up with nine tunes being played - more of that later.

Level One of Sage One was 99% full. The faithful had turned out to pay tribute to the late legend as seen through the eyes and voice of the generally acknowledged next best thing.

Stephen Triffitt.

He looks like Old Blue Eyes, moves like him and, most importantly, sounds like him. At times it was uncanny such was the resemblance.

It wasn't the hippest of audiences, even though I'd warrant that a fair percentage of them had had hip replacements in recent years, and many of the Sinatra style quips went over their heads. Nevertheless, one and all seemed to enjoy the music with the big winners being New York New York and Strangers in the Night, oh yes and, natch. My Way.

A choice selection of gassers included Come Fly with me; I've Got the World on a String; Pennies From Heaven; Please be Kind; The Summer Wind; Tender Trap; Witchcraft; Way You Look Tonight; Night and Day and New York New York.

The audience can look forward to a
heady mix of expertly performed big band jazz, including the UK
premiere of music written by international trumpeter Gerard Presencer for
the Dutch Radio Big Band's recent collaboration with Rolling Stones’ drummer Charlie
Watts.

Take it to the
Bridge is an institution. Dave Weisser’s weekly ‘workshop’ has been going since
the year dot. From time to time the
institution’s leader invites a band to come along and play a set. This week’s
guests were fulfilling a twice postponed appearance at the Jazz Co-op’s Globe HQ.

Lickety Split is
a no nonsense band. Turn up, play, job done. Band charts depleted due to a
thief’s keen ear for something of real value – yes, stolen notes of the musical
kind, of much greater value than a swag bag full of five pound notes – didn’t
deter Eddie Bellis’ outfit. Minus the band’s absent pianist, Bellis and co were
ready for Lift Off! Exhilarating, drilled
brass and reeds, an object lesson in dynamics, the ideal calling card.

Early Nite are a
Manchester based trio who performed a thoroughly entertaining set at The Bridge
on Sunday night. Their music is highly frenetic and full of good humour. Think
‘Flight of the bumble bee’ meets Ornette Coleman. The band certainly seemed to
be enjoying themselves and their bonhomie translated itself to the audience.
Saxophonist Harry Smith was virtually jumping around the stage as he performed whilst Otto Wilberg on bass was both
innovative and great to watch, at one point using his bow as a plectrum. Not to
be outdone drummer, Alexander Tod, was excellenton drums incorporating various
percussive additions to the normal kit to great effect.

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

The superlatives
have been exhausted. A regional jam session can’t be this good. People would
pay good money to hear Mark Williams, Paul Grainger and Rob Walker. The trio
played three or four numbers before guitarist Williams and drummer Rob Walker
stood down to allow an endless parade of first rate musicians to sit in. A
piano player just turned seventeen, a drummer eighteen, joined by a twenty-ish
trumpet-playing university science undergraduate, an early twenties guitar
virtuoso…who needs Messrs Williams and Walker? Rumour has it they went for a
curry.

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

A new festival in Durham will bring together the region’s
best jazz musicians with the city’s most intriguing music venues.

From big bands to duos and jam sessions to club nights
the festival is a chance to experience jazz in all its forms – in a host of unique settings.

Empty Shop CIC and Durham University Jazz Society have
teamed up to put together this eclectic weekend which celebrates the fact that
Durham is a city falling ever-more in love with the sounds of jazz!

Featuring more than 25 events taking place across seven
different venues the festival has something for everyone and in its first year
a weekend ticket is just £10!

Monday, May 15, 2017

The releases from Whirlwind Recordings continue apace from either side of the Atlantic. The latest one to arrive at the BSH Head Office overlooking the Tyne and Wear Metro Line features New York based, Canadian born, saxophonist Quinsin Nachoff and is well worth checking out. I wasn't too sure as to how ethereal the trio actual was so I took the easy way out and Googled 'ethereal synonyms'.

Airy, Celestial, Exquisite, Ghostly, Intangible and Sublime were the top answers and the trio ticked all the boxes. Not all the boxes on every track but, over the course of the six pieces, managed to touch down on at least one and occasionally all.

Blues for Duane, One Mint Julep, Bernie’s Tune, three gems for starters. The Jazztones returned to
play another set at the Quakerhouse, the de facto HQ of the long-running
Darlington Jazz Club. The Mechanics’ Yard pub hosts regular gigs – blues, rock,
and, twice a month, jazz. A six o’clock start attracts listeners and performers
across the age spectrum – teenagers to octogenarians. An illustration of this
early evening gig policy presented an established small group (the Jazztones) a
been-there-done-that musician invited to sit in (pianist Mr Ted Pearce), and
star of the future, Ms Beth Roberts playing alto saxophone.

Sunday, May 14, 2017

The 2017 Jesmond
Community Festival includes a couple of student jazz offerings. Later in the
month members of Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra return to play a set
ranging from swing era standards to bop and beyond. Last night’s jazz concert
in Jesmond Library presented a new outfit – new to BSH that is – playing a funk
set.

Philonious Funk is
a student band from NorthumbriaUniversity. The former
polytechnic doesn’t offer a music degree but what it does have is a group of
students playing music for fun and this public performance of two short sets of
funk and soul entertained festival-goers in leafy Jesmond on a mild Saturday
evening.

CountyDurham correspondent Tony Eales has filed a brief report to inform BSH readers that Sue Ferris played a storming gig at last night’s Opus 4 Jazz Club gig at the Traveller’s Rest. The West Auckland Road pub’s upstairs room was well populated as Ferris blew some tremendous tenor (a first set played on a borrowed tenor from the well known reeds man Paul Edis). Ferris made a call to Noel Dennis who readily accepted a dep gig for the otherwise engaged Graham Hardy. Not too shabby a replacement! Paul Smith took the drum chair, Neil Harland, bass and Dr Edis assumed a familiar role – that of pianist, his day job! Second set, having made running repairs, Ferris played her trusty tenor. All in all, another highly successful Darlington jazz gig.

Today (Sunday) at six o’clock Darlington Jazz Club meets in the Quakerhouse with the house band – the Jazztones – playing a few tunes. Recommended.

Saturday, May 13, 2017

This Newcastle
Jazz Café date previewing her forthcoming CD Life on Land was a first opportunity for a Tyneside jazz audience
to hear singer-songwriter pianist Joy Ellis. The London-based Ellis is
fortunate in being able to work with many of the best musicians on the scene. Three
of them made the journey north to perform two sets of Ellis’ compositions, some
of which feature on her new CD, some yet to have a title. A select gathering on
Pink Lane
thoroughly enjoyed listening to Ellis and her band – James Kitchman, guitar,
Henrik Jensen, double bass, and drummer Adam Osmianski.

Steve T suggests that all jazz singers should listen to some soul. Well, I don't know if Steve and Polly are acquainted but the latter is one lady who most certainly has, albeit not to the exclusion of other related genres. Before I'd read the notes my reaction upon hearing several of the tracks was Gladys Knight. Lo and behold, it turns out Gibbons was the support on the 2016 UK tour by Knight and George Benson.

On I Let a Song Go Out of my Heart the influence is Ella but, whether it be Gladys or Ella there's also a whole lot of Polly in there which doesn't mean she does it parrot fashion.

This Friday
lunchtime performance, one in a regular recital programme at St Nicholas
Cathedral, featured Paul Taylor in a set of forty minutes or so playing solo
piano improvisations. The recital programme presents artists from far and wide
(an organist, a classical guitarist, a soprano voice perhaps), today a musician
based in the region expressed his delight at being offered a platform within
such imposing surroundings. Paul Taylor
specialises in solo piano improvisations. Elegant, impressionistic, cascading
lines, a confluence of ideas, Taylor
seemingly abandoning a line of thought in favour of another before a return to
an earlier statement. The audience listened, some with closed eyes,
contemplating who knows what? Taylor
is a quietly spoken man, his introductory remarks audible to those seated in
the pews nearest to the piano situated in the nave. Other audience members sitting
several rows behind struggled to hear, but no matter, Taylor’s music spoke for him. At the
conclusion of his set Taylor
stood up, acknowledged the audience, and walked off with a backward glance at
the piano.

About this blog - contact details.

Bebop Spoken Here -- Here, being the north-east of England -- centred in the blues heartland of Newcastle and reaching down to the Tees Delta and looking upwards to the Land of the Kilt.Not a very original title, I know; not even an accurate one as my taste, whilst centred around the music of Bird and Diz, extends in many directions and I listen to everything from King Oliver to Chick Corea and beyond. Not forgetting the Great American Songbook the contents of which has provided the inspiration for much great jazz and quality popular singing for round about a century.The idea of this blog is for you to share your thoughts and pass on your comments on discs, gigs, jazz - music in general. If you've been to a gig/concert or heard a CD that knocked you sideways please share your views with us. Tell us about your favourites, your memories, your dislikes.Lance (Who wishes it to be known that he is not responsible for postings other than his own and that he's not always responsible for them.)

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